Affected
by Sevv
Summary: Affected is the best word both can think of to describe how the other makes them feel. They don't care about others and they certainly don't fall in love, but what is between them is definitely not nothing. A random collection of Kimvy shorts that don't fit anywhere else!
1. Impulse

_Bang_

Kimblee's outstretched arms come together in a fast and deliberate motion and a corresponding explosion sounds in the street below. He keeps his eyes closed for a few moments, enjoying the sound, and when he finally opens them they are dark and blazing with excitement.

Envy loves watching Kimblee work. For all their posturing of superiority, Envy can only imagine what it feels like to have such raw power at their fingertips.

The air is thick with fresh smoke which billows upwards in dense black plumes. The accompanying ash coats every surrounding surface, and the stench of blood and metal and concrete mingle in a way that Envy finds pleasant.

Kimblee's chest is heaving as he tries to catch his breath. His hair whips out behind him like a streak of black ink scrawled across the smokey grey sky, and his pale face looks more alive than Envy has ever seen it. His grin is infectious and despite themself, Envy feels their own lips curling upwards in response.

If the word were in Envy's vocabulary, they might almost say that he looks handsome.

Even so, there is something truly incredible about this man, Envy thinks. He is so unlike any other human they have ever met, none of the weakness (well some, Envy concedes, but less than the others they have dealt with), and his devotion to his work is beyond compare.

Stood up here, above _them_ , the weak and the dying, with _him_ … Envy feels something they are unused to, something akin to joy. Perhaps it is just proximity Kimblee's elation, but Envy enjoys it just the same.

A scream of terror sounds beneath them and Envy basks in the horror of the scene playing out beneath them. A woman emerges onto the street from the rubble of a collapsed building and throws herself onto the still-smouldering corpse of what Envy assumes to be her lover. After a few more seconds more people begin to pour out behind her, each searching the dead in fear, hoping not to find any familiar faces.

Envy steals a glance at their Alchemist, enjoying the anticipation they know he feels, and feeling it along with him.

They are standing so close that when Kimblee moves to extend his arms again, Envy feels a faint brush of skin against their own. In this heightened state of sensation and emotion, it isn't as bad as Envy would have imagined…

 _Bang._

The screams are cut off as another violent explosion rocks the building they are stood on. A detached part of Envy wonders how safe they both are up here, obviously they could survive the fall to the street (although it is something they hope to avoid), but despite his power Kimblee is still only a human. The thought is dismissed almost immediately, Envy is enjoying this too much to dwell on Kimblee's humanity...

Kimblee exhales quickly, his breathing is fast and Envy is surprised that their own breathing seems to have quickened to match. They are aware that his gaze has shifted onto them.

Envy looks up, violet eyes meet deep, dark blue. Kimblee's face is intense; everything about this afternoon is what he lives for. Envy wishes, wishes for something to bring them the pleasure that Kimblee seems to get out of using his alchemy.

"Kiss me." Envy hears themself say. The words are out of their mouth before they can stop them.

They see Kimblee's eyes narrow slightly, although the grin remains; he is wondering if they mean it… Envy wonders too.

Carefully, but with purpose, Kimblee reaches out a hand and lays it softly on their cheek. Envy flinches ever so slightly; this is hard for them, no one has ever touched them before unless it was to cause them pain. But this, this isn't so bad.

The kiss is swift and intense, much like Kimblee's explosions. He tastes sort of smokey although Envy isn't sure if that's just because of their surroundings.

Kimblee pulls away too soon, Envy wants to follow but their pride doesn't allow it.

"So that's what it feels like…" Kimblee murmurs to himself.

A thrill shoots through Envy to know that he had been curious as well.

But still, curiosity is all it is… all it can be.

"Yeah… well that's all you get, Crimson… don't let it go to your head." Kimblee's eyes are still bright and his face is flushed slightly; Envy imagines they look similar, their face is definitely warmer than usual. But they are back in control now. In the heat of the moment they had acted on an impulse, they don't regret it, but it can't happen again.

* * *

 _A/N I can't stop… send help!_

 _~My first attempt at writing something in present tense, it was fun but difficult - I keep backsliding and then finding random bits that are accidentally done in past!_


	2. Misery

_A/N: Set the night before The Promised Day in an AU where Lust doesn't die in Lab Three, Gluttony doesn't get munched by Pride (not important to the story but if it happened it would be a distraction that I don't want to deal with), and Envy doesn't have their Philosopher's Stone destroyed by Marcoh, and heads back to Central with their perfect hair still intact._

 _Credit to Sixty-four K for beta-ing this for me (if you haven't already read her stuff then you should, it's incredible!)_

 _(It's not exactly a happy one-shot, so if you don't like that sort of thing then I advise giving it a miss)_

* * *

Down in the depths of Father's lair, it was far too easy to lose track of the concepts of night and day. This was especially true for Lust, as she had been stuck there for the past six months. She had regained most of her strength, since the Flame Colonel had almost succeeded in reducing her to a pile of ash in Lab Three. But Father still refused to let her leave the confines of the sprawling tunnel system that He operated beneath Central City.

 _Not long now._ No, Lust was sure that she would be needed on The Promised Day. Her Philosopher's Stone had been slowly enhanced with fresh souls sent to her via Pride, and she was confident that she was ready to be back in the field. Besides, there would be too much happening for her siblings to handle on their own, especially since the new Greed had already taken after his predecessor and jumped ship.

Speaking of siblings, the echoey sound of footsteps sounded from far away. She carefully folded down the corner of the page she had been reading and set her book down besides her. She was eager for information on the state of affairs in the city above, and if nothing else, she had been so starved of company recently that any of her siblings would provide a welcome distraction.

 _~ I'd leave, if I were you ~_

Lust nearly (nearly) recoiled from the dark shadows which suddenly enveloped the room, but managed to catch herself in time. "And hello to you too, Pride," she said lightly, to mask her surprise.

 _~ Did you hear me? I said leave ~_ Pride's metallic voice sounded impatient.

"Why?"

Lust could imagine Pride rolling his eyes, but she made a point to never obey him without question. It was better to remind him that Father was the only person she answered too.

 _~ Suit yourself. But I tried to warn you ~_ The shadows withdrew rapidly and Pride's presence vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

The footsteps in the tunnel were closer now and far louder. Lust tried to guess which one of her siblings it would be. Mostly she hoped for Gluttony, and the loud sound of feet slapping on the stone floor seemed promising. Sloth was another reasonable bet, but no, the footsteps were moving too quickly for him. Wrath was in the East, keeping watch over some General or other who Father thought was a threat to their plans in Central, and Greed surely wouldn't dare show his face back here after defecting so violently.

It could be Envy, she mused, dear little Envy; if they were in a good mood (which was rare these days) that was nearly as good as Gluttony, but in the likely event they weren't… she shuddered inwardly. Perhaps that was why Pride had been trying to warn her of?

A slender figure came into view and put an end to her deliberations.

Lust eyed Envy curiously, trying to gauge their mood. Their hair was unusually tousled, and they were covered in dirt and blood. _They've been fighting_ , Lust observed. But Envy enjoyed fighting (as long as they were winning), so maybe that was a good thing?

As they got closer, Lust was aware of their strange bearing; their shoulders were slumped and they carried themself with none of the usual confidence they liked to portray. Something was wrong. She tried hard not to notice the tracks of pale skin which had been cut through the grime on their face, because she didn't want to face the realisation that Envy (Envy!) had been crying.

Envy slumped down onto the floor beneath the piping she was perched on, barely sparing her a glance. Instinctively, Lust's hands reached out to smooth down their unruly hair. Envy tensed under her touch, but made no move to stop her.

They both sat for a while in silence, with Lust making comforting motions through their thick tangle of hair. It was unusual for Envy to be this way; even when bothered by something, they usually dealt with it by ranting and raving, lashing out at whoever was closest. This version of Envy, soundless and unmoving, was, in some ways, much worse. How could Lust help if she didn't even know what was wrong?

"Do you want to talk about it?" she ventured after some time.

Envy still didn't speak, and so Lust resumed playing with their hair; if it comforted them, she could see no reason to stop.

When it finally came, Envy's voice sounded hollow, broken.

"He's dead."

 _Who's dead?_ Lust considered her response carefully, trying to work out whose death could trigger such misery in her younger sibling, and why. No one obvious came to mind. Maybe one of their sacrifices? But surely Pride would have been more upset by that, and Envy wouldn't take it so… so personally.

"Who's that, dear?" she asked gently.

Envy ignored her.

"I'm going to kill him," they growled instead, their voice growing stronger as more anger was injected. "I'm going to tear his stupid head off his stupid body. And I'm going to pull his heart right out of his chest and make him eat it. And bury him alive until he suffocates. And skewer him with a thousand blades. And..." A sadistic glee entered their voice now. "...I'll slice his throat and watch him slowly choke to death on his own blood…"

"Very impressive," Lust murmured. "Those are a lot of ways to kill one human."

"I'm not trying to kill a human."

"Oh?" Lust was curious. Envy often fantasized about the sick ways they could kill humans, but aside from Greed, they had never displayed much interest in harming one of their siblings (well no more than could be expected from monsters such as they).

"It's… it's… Pride." Envy bit the word out with difficulty. Lust could see their clenched fists shaking as they spoke.

"What's Pride?" Lust was struggling to keep track of the conversation as Envy's twisted mind made leaps she was unable to follow.

"It's Pride I'm going to kill. I wonder how many times I'll get to do it? I hope it's a lot, I'd hate to have to finished early."

Lust was taken aback.

"But why?"

"He's dead," Envy replied, their voice reverting to that same numb tone from before. "Pride could have saved him. He didn't have to…" Envy's shoulders shook as a sob wracked their tiny frame; they coughed to disguise the motion, but Lust wasn't fooled for a second.

"Envy, I need you to tell me what happened." Lust said more firmly, as pity and frustration vied within her.

Envy turned to face her with pleading violet eyes.

"Don't make me say it." Their voice was a hoarse whisper as they fought to keep more sobs at bay.

"Fine, I guess I'll go and find Pride and ask him…?" Lust was sure that would elicit a reaction, and sure enough Envy's eyes darkened almost instantly after they heard Pride's name.

"N-no!"

"Well then honey, you need to talk to me."

Envy tilted their head back and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Pride killed… k-killed… Pride killed Kimblee." The final words tumbled out quickly.

Lust was lost for words. Kimblee... that name was familiar. Kimblee was the human alchemist who was working for Father. The one Envy liked to talk about so much— but why would they be so… _oh_!

Without thinking, Lust slid off the pipe onto the floor next to her younger sibling and pulled them into an embrace. Envy didn't struggle as she expected, but curled up into her.

"I didn't know. I didn't know." She couldn't think of anything else to say. She knew nothing of real love, how could she possibly empathise? She felt Envy's face burrow into her shoulder; it was damp—they were crying again. She reached a hand around their back and continued running her graceful fingers through their hair.

"He was… everything." Envy choked on the last word, "he was mine, and now…"

"Shhh." Lust understood: just as she had to live with her burning desires, Envy, too, had lived out their sad, lonely life consumed by jealousy. They had never had anything that was wholly theirs, and now, fleetingly, they had finally felt wanted. Lust didn't know if Envy had the capacity to heal from such an abstract injury. She felt tears of her own gather on the tips of her eyelashes but blinked them back quickly. She needed to remain strong, for Envy's sake.

Envy cried unashamedly in Lust's arms all night; cried for what they might have had, for what they had lost, for him.

* * *

 _A/N It's funny this didn't turn out like I thought it would when I planned it._ _I imagined Envy would come in and be super angry and Lust would help them realise why they were so bothered that Kimblee was dead. But clearly when I started writing I wrote something waaaaay more miserable (and probably ooc oh well). I can't explain why, it just happened._

 _Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of the characters. (Which is good, because I could not deal if anything remotely resembling this actually happened in canon ahah)._


	3. Who is she?

_A/N So I realised that sometimes I just like writing these two doing... not a lot. I'm not sure how interested other people will be in this, but I was convinced to post it (thanks 64K!). I hope you guys enjoy it ^^_

* * *

"Who is she, hmm?" Envy leans forward, looking rather precarious, perched as they are on the arm of the sofa. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Kimblee wonders why they are being so spiteful today. Since the moment he got in, Envy hasn't left him alone, asking him question upon question about his day, his current projects… and now this?

He lowers his newspaper and regards Envy. "Why would you ask that?" he says, more sharply than intended.

"No reason," Envy pouts. "Just checking you aren't distracted. There are a lot of things we're counting on you for, you know."

"Nope. Not distracted." Kimblee raises his paper again, searching to see if any of his recent escapades have made the headlines.

"Because if she was, Father might have a problem with that."

Kimblee rolls his eyes, why are they continuing on about this? He can't even recall her name. He chooses to ignore Envy, hoping they might give up this line of questioning and switch to a more interesting topic.

"I'm just saying, Crimson. It's not exactly smart to get involved with someone right now."

Involved? The audacity!

"How has this transitioned from 'who is she?' to the assumption that we are… 'together'?" Kimblee says lazily, only half concentrating on Envy.

Envy's eyes narrow. "So you admit it?" Kimblee catches the slight dangerous edge which has crept into their voice.

"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous." He has known them for long enough to understand the importance of ending a conversation when they begin speaking in _that_ particular tone.

Envy's voice rises an octave, "Oh, now I'm being ridiculous am I?"

"Well, yes. If you really must know." Kimblee knows it's not a sensible response, but if Envy wants to fight, then he can give as good as he gets.

Envy's mouth drops in surprise and hurt flashes over their features. It is petty, but it makes Kimblee feel slightly better.

"You still didn't tell me who she is," they mumble, sullenly.

Kimblee could scream. Why does he let Envy get away with this? They are absent for weeks on end and then, all of a sudden (as has happened today), they turn up, quite out of the blue (giving Kimblee no time to tidy his admittedly-meticulous apartment, or restock the fridge) and demand his attention for a full evening. Sometimes these visits occur continuously for a few nights, but inevitably Envy will always disappear off, citing some important mission or other.

If forced, he would probably describe Envy as a friend (although Envy has no need for such labels, so why should he?) but it is irksome how they just insert themself into his life with no warning, disrupting his routines, and then taking off without so much as a goodbye. Kimblee's life would be boring without them, though, he can admit that much; so he'll happily take the annoyance of it all to be able to spend time together…

"She's no one. Stop worrying." Kimblee tries to return to the article he has been reading, but Envy has other ideas, made clear by the cushion they send flying at Kimblee's head.

"Why are you ignoring me today?"

"I'm hardly ignoring you. I've already told you everything I've done today, everything I'm working on," and truthfully it was all pretty boring right now, "why don't you tell me what you've been doing?" He already knows the reply, but it never hurts to ask.

"You know I can't tell you that." Envy slides down off the sofa arm and wriggles around until they are nestled in between the remaining cushions, with their knees brought up to their chin. "And you haven't told me _everything_ about your day, you didn't tell me who you were having coffee with this morning." This, still?

"Sorry, let me rephrase that, I've already told you everything _interesting_ I've done today."

Envy looks a little placated, but Kimblee can see they still aren't ready to drop it. They tug at a strand of their dark hair and slowly wrap it around their index finger. Kimblee is struck by how young they look, all moody and pouting and snuggled up on the sofa as they are.

"She was pretty." They say, after a little while.

Kimblee shifts his weight so he is fully facing Envy, and folds his paper in half neatly, leaving is balancing on his lap. "She was hideous, at least she was to me."

Envy looks up, noticing that they finally have his full attention, and he takes it as encouragement to continue talking.

"She was ugly, on the inside. She was boring and full of ideas about 'peace' and 'helping those that are weaker'. Frankly, it was disgusting; I can't believe Wrath sent me to meet her."

"Wrath sent you?" Envy sounds a little hopeful.

"Of course. I thought that was obvious."

Envy smiles into the back of their hand and tries to disguise the motion by shifting it into a stretch.

"You look tired," Kimblee observes, sensing that they are finally ready to let the subject drop.

"I am, I suppose… but I can stay, for a bit longer. Since you've had such a traumatic day." Envy's tone drips with playful sarcasm.

"Well, how kind."

"Will you… can I have…" Kimbee sees Envy struggling for words and stands up to begin the lengthy preparations involved in making Envy's favourite drink. "Thanks, Crimson." They say through a yawn.

"Don't they even give you time to sleep?" Kimblee calls from the kitchen, as he sources the many ingredients required. Coffee - check, of course; the others are slightly more difficult, sugar - check, caramel syrup - check, whipped cream - check (he had been worried about that one), and finally, cocoa, for dusting - check.

"Sure they do. Just not very often." Kimblee hears them yawn again.

"Because you're so busy with…?"

"Stuff," Envy replies vaguely. "Stop trying to make me say. I'm smarter than you give me credit for."

Kimblee laughs at this, if only Envy knew how highly he really thought of them. It isn't as if he hasn't tried to explain if before, but Envy seems incapable of accepting it, as if their own feelings of doubt about themself make them unable to believe anyone else might think better of them.

When he returns to the living area holding Envy's mug, he notices that Envy has stretched out across the whole length of the sofa. Setting the mug down on the coffee table, Kimblee waits for them to notice him, although it seems improbable once he notices their closed eyes…

Kimblee is torn between a desire to let the homunculus sleep, and irritation that he isn't even allowed to sit down in his own home. But before he has to make a decision, Envy, who is evidently not as asleep as they appear, lifts up their feet, making room for Kimblee on the sofa.

As soon as he sits, Envy's legs drop back down, onto his lap. Kimblee slowly eases the newspaper out from under Envy's back, trying to disturb them as little as possible. He unfolds it again, slowly, and finds the page he had been reading earlier. He spares a quick glance at the sleeping form of Envy, the immortal homunculus, noting the slight rise and fall of their chest, and then continues with his article.


	4. Passing Time

_A/N For a bit of context, this is based in an AU where Kimblee was recruited fresh out of the academy just before everything kicked off in Ishval. What he knows about the Homunculi and The Plan is pretty limited to what he's managed to find out from Envy, who is the only one he's met yet. (Will I ever get bored of writing excessive amounts of Kimvy...? Probably not!)_

* * *

Kimblee was aware of the presence following him far before he could see them.

It was Envy, of course. It was always Envy.

They seemed to enjoy this game, trailing Kimblee for as long as possible during his evening walk home. Kimblee couldn't really see what was so interesting about it, but there was no reason to put an end to it prematurely.

"Hi, Crimson," Envy said, appearing behind him as if from thin air.

This was part of the game; they seemed very amused (and more than a little pleased with themself) whenever they managed to catch Kimblee off guard. In reality, this was never, but Kimblee often played along, he could see no reason to disappoint them, after all.

Unfortunately, today was not one of those days where he felt like playing along. He had been forced to spend four hours of his precious afternoon in a meeting with an insufferable colleague in the marshal's office. Maes Hughes had made what could have taken thirty minutes into a whole afternoon's worth of inane discussion on the current situation in the East.

"Hello, can you hear me?" Envy hopped a little on the spot in frustration, unused to being ignored.

Kimblee rubbed a hand against his forehead. "It's been a long day," was all he said.

"Oh, sure," they muttered, with a dark look.

Kimblee sighed. Why did he always give in to Envy's every whim, he wondered? But really, there was no need for him to be in a bad mood anymore; the meeting was over and he had fulfilled all of his social working commitments for the week, Friday was a day for him to dedicate fully to his research. That was a comforting thought, it was probably why he was starting to feel happier and more relaxed. Nothing related to present company -

"Fine, I guess I'll go then. I was only here to check in on you. Father's been getting twitchy about the East, and he needs me to go down and check on Lust and that moron, Gluttony."

"You're leaving?" Kimblee asked, sharply.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Envy snapped.

Kimblee took a long breath. "I'm sorry, let's start again. Oh, Envy! How long have you been following me?"

Envy tried to hold a frown but they couldn't stop a small smirk from slipping onto their face. "You're as much of a moron as my brother," they said, playfully (Kimblee hoped).

"I wouldn't know."

"Trust me, you don't want to meet Gluttony."

"Perhaps."

"You're curious, though, aren't you?"

Envy was clearly enjoying this, they often liked to lord information over Kimblee, even though it generally didn't tend to bother him. He knew as much as he needed to, he knew who he could use his alchemy on and get away with it, and, really, what was more important than that? Although, truth be told, recently he had been trying to pry out more from Envy. It had started innocently enough, teasing out the names of all their siblings, but he kept finding that he wanted to know more, more about Envy's plan, Envy's family… more about Envy themself. It was simple curiosity, human nature, who wouldn't be fascinated by such a creature?

"I am," Kimblee admitted. "Your family is one of a kind." With Envy, flattery would get you everywhere.

"That's true, we are pretty special. Although none of the others can do this…" Red sparks danced around Envy's body and slowly engulfed them; when they receded, the familiar face of Maes Hughes was smiling down at Kimblee. It would have been impressive, had it not been the hundredth time Envy had pulled a stunt like this using their unique abilities.

"It's like you're _asking_ me to blow you up," Kimblee grinned.

Envy's pout on Hughes' face was disturbing and ridiculous at the same time, Kimblee tried to suppress a laugh, but failed.

"What's so funny? You don't like this face? Fine…" More sparks appeared and left in their wake woman with long blonde hair and full lips. Olivier Armstrong had been considered a great beauty by many of Kimblee's colleagues, but she had never been of interest to him.

"You've picked some strange choices. You could be anyone, but you pick a man I actively dislike, and a woman I am indifferent to."

Envy looked disappointed at Kimblee's lack of awe of them. "Fine, you choose someone then."

"Pride," Kimblee threw back, a little too quickly.

"Nice try, Crimson. I am not going to tell you a single thing about him." Envy gave a sassy toss of Olivier's thick hair.

"Oh, but you just did. I didn't know Pride was a 'him', before."

Envy opened their mouth angrily, but immediately snapped it closed again. Obviously they were learning from past mistakes that speaking when angry was a sure way to let more secrets slip out.

"Choose someone else," they replied, eventually, in a smaller voice.

"Hmm," Kimblee pretended to think for a moment, "how about Envy."

"You know that's me, right? You can't trick me out of information you already have."

"I know that, I just like your face the way it is."

"Oh." Envy was quite for a while as they processed this information. Kimblee wondered what they were inferring from his words; obviously he had only meant it to boost their delicate ego, and their contemplation was making him a little uneasy.

"Anyway, you were telling me that you had to visit the East?" Kimblee said, more as a distraction than anything else.

"Mhm, I need to check on a few of our works in progress down there," Envy replied, carefully, as they shifted back to their preferred form subconsciously.

"Anything you need my help with?" Envy shot Kimblee a strange look at that comment, and he felt the need to justify it. "I've been stuck in this city for months, I thought the deal was that I get to practice my Alchemy?"

"Well yes, you do, but only on our terms."

" _Your terms_ seem rather dull right now." Kimblee rolled his eyes, hoping his words might spur the homunculus into action. They had made many promises regarding what Kimblee would be allowed to do, but he had yet to see any of them be realised.

"Just wait a little bit longer, Crimson. It's not long now…" Envy's eyes had a far-away look, and Kimblee felt a corresponding bolt of excitement.

"Not long until what?" He knew he was being too direct, but disinterest was difficult to feign around the only person he could openly be himself around.

Envy cocked their head, considering. "Okay, I'll give you this one, Crimson. Because you're being so patient. You know about the tensions in Ishval. Right?

Of course, Kimblee had spend half of his day discussing it. It was the hot topic around Central HQ right now, and had been for at least a month. He nodded, in response.

"Good," Envy almost purred, "I thought you'd be paying attention. Well I can't say much, but we have certain… plans, involving Ishval. And it's all going to happen very - _very_ soon."

"And these plans, do they involve me?"

"Of course, why do you think I'm telling you? You're going to have a lot to do there. A lot."

Kimblee liked the sound of that. All of his irritation stemming from his day at work seemed insignificant now. Working with Envy, and the other Homunculi, was an exciting prospect; the opportunities were almost endless. And the idea that it might all begin very soon… he could hardly wait to get started.

But for now, walking with Envy in the cool early evening, with the whole night stretching in front of them, discussing as much of the plan as they would share… well, it wasn't a bad way to pass time.


	5. Nightmares

_A/N pt 1: Context for this is the beginning of the war in Ishval, probably 2 or 3 weeks after Kimblee got his Philospher's Stone._

* * *

The fire had long since burned out, but the coals still glowed red, and the embers still caught the wind and swirled up into the air on the dying smoke plumes.

Envy's eyes were dark as Kimblee regarded them across the fire pit. This was his favourite time of day. The rest of the army slept to forget the horrors of the previous day, but Kimblee delighted in every moment of it. The air was unusually still, and there was time to reflect on the day just ended, and bask in the anticipation of the day yet to come. The Ishvalan extermination was a delight unlike anything Kimblee had experienced; it was as if he were living in a state of perpetual adrenaline and excitement, and these quiet times, in between, seemed somehow... important.

The wind was picking up, slowly, injecting a chill into the air. Kimblee tore his eyes away from Envy's and rubbed his hand across his forearms for warmth.

"Getting cold?" Envy asked, peering curiously at his gestures.

Kimblee shrugged. "I suppose, a little. Do you… do you not get cold?" His clumsy attempts at probing his new, inhuman ally were a little demeaning, but his thirst for knowledge and understanding was far stronger than any small humiliation he might feel.

Envy shook their head with a proud look. "Of course not. That's a weakness only humans have."

Kimblee nodded in agreement. It made sense, of course; why would a perfectly designed creature such as Envy feel such useless sensitivities.

They fell silent once more, both lost in their own thoughts of the war. Kimblee was unused to such comfortable silences. Not that he was usually uncomfortable, but the other party to his interactions always seemed to feel the need to fill the quiet with awkward, mumbling conversation, before realising that his disinterest was genuine and promptly excusing themselves. It wasn't like that with Envy, though. Envy seemed content to sit with him, enjoying his company without feeling the need for incessant and pointless chattering. And when they did speak, it was of colourful stories of their exploits, both during the war and beyond, and Kimblee couldn't help but be drawn in, fascinated by the things they claimed to have seen.

Kimblee stifled a yawn, it was getting late, and the days of a soldier were long enough, even without his evening company. "I'm turning in," he stated.

Envy's face was unreadable, as is nearly always was. "Okay. I won't be here for a while, after tonight; just so you know. I have to see to something else and it might take me a few days."

Kimblee tried not to feel too disappointed; the evenings here would be a little more lonely, without Envy, but no different to what he had been used to before they met.

"Oh, there was something I've been meaning to ask you, before you go," he remembered, his need for sleep suddenly seeming less important than spending a few more precious hours with Envy before they disappeared.

"Fire away, Crimson," Envy grinned, leaning forward slightly with their elbows casually resting on their knees.

Kimblee reached into his pocket and fished out the perfect red shard of power which had changed his life. He held it up, tilting it slightly so it reflected the moonlight, and sent tiny specks of light cascading over the desert floor.

"How long will it last for?" he asked.

"Last for?" Envy repeated, with a small frown.

"Yes, when will it run out?"

"It- it won't run…" Envy trailed off, their frown deepening in what Kimblee could best describe as confusion. It wasn't a look that suited them. He had expected a firm, decisive answer, but it was almost as if Envy had never even thought about the question, never mind have a response to it.

"It must run out, eventually," Kimblee plunged on. "When you gave it to me, you said it was made out of human souls," he looked at Envy, who barely seemed to be registering his words. "Right?"

Envy nodded slowly, and Kimblee was even more sure that they had never thought about the Stone in this way.

"Well then, human souls must contain a finite amount of power, so at some point the Stone must use up all of that power, and then… stop," he concluded.

When Envy still didn't say anything, Kimblee continued his analysis. "Now what I don't know, is how much power a soul can provide, or how many souls were used in the creation of this Stone. Those are both things I imagine one would need to factor in to calculate the power output of-"

"Stop talking," Envy snapped, cutting off Kimblee's thoughts. "You don't understand what your saying. The Stone's are all powerful. They won't run out."

Kimblee cast his eyes over Envy, they seemed visibly shaken by his comments, but why? He was only musing about the Philosopher's Stone they had given to him - surely if it ran out, it would just be replaced… they seemed simple enough to make, after all.

"Okay, I'll stop," he agreed, feeling more than slightly irritated at Envy's way of handling the situation. He knew they were enigmatic, and enjoyed affecting an air of mystery, but there was no need for this. Maybe it was time to call it a night.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Envy asked as he pushed himself up off the sand.

"To bed. It's late, and you clearly aren't in the mood for conversation anymore." His words came out colder than intended; he hadn't yet perfected the art of fully hiding his feelings.

"Wait!" Envy called, standing too.

"Why? Are you going to give me a serious answer?"

Envy looked away and interlaced their fingers in what seemed to Kimblee to be a nervous gesture. How curious.

"There's a lot about Philosopher's Stone's that you don't know Crimson," Envy said venomously, finally meeting Kimblee's gaze again with burning eyes. He wondered what exactly about this particular conversation topic had prompted such a reaction; he had never seen Envy angry like this before, and was unsure of the correct way to handle them.

He settled on just walking away - if he didn't say anything more then they would have no reason to keep being mad. But the topic would not be forgotten, he would just have to be more subtle in finding out more information.

XXX

Envy's arrival back on the front lines was a welcome break for Kimblee; during their absence he had nowhere to hide away from the rest of the military, and had found himself force to socialise with the other State Alchemists. Envy had been away longer than he expected - nearly a week, and he had begun to wonder if his questioning from their last night together had been a step too far.

But it appeared that he had been wrong, because here they were, their old self, carelessly throwing around stories of their most recent mission which had taken them to the West.

"Where do your missions come from?" Kimblee asked, as Envy finished their overly embellished tale of how they'd had to impersonate the daughter of a rising political icon in West City in order to put a stop to his growing popularity.

"Wrath, usually - he's the best placed to find out about these things."

"Is he in charge?"

Kimblee knew the question was a mistake almost as soon as he'd asked it, Envy tensed and a flicked of anger passed quickly over their sharp features.

"No," they replied, sounding annoyed. "Although sometimes he can act like he thinks he is. Father should teach him a lesson... he should know where he stands."

"Father?" Kimblee asked curiously.

"Yeah. Why do you sound surprised?"

"It's just… you have a Father?" He tried to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"Of course. Everyone has a Father, even you must have one."

Kimblee spluttered a bit. "So you have a mother too? Parents?"

"Uhm… not quite, Crimson. You keep trying to simplify my family to fit your human concepts, but it just doesn't work like that for us."

"How does it work, then?"

Envy grinned, nothing seemed to please them as much as a captive audience, and Kimblee was certainly that right now. "We, my siblings and I, we were all created by our Father. He made seven of us. Of course, you've already met Wrath, he's the youngest - don't let his old man appearance fool you… although, he's probably old for a human. But not compared to me." Envy place a hand on their chest proudly.

Kimblee wondered why Envy was being so open with him this evening. In the short space of time he had know them, Envy had not been one for sharing personal details about their family life. He doubted that this was simply the natural progression of getting to know each other; no, Envy was enjoying impressing him. After spending a week under the pretense of being a ten year old girl, Kimblee wondered whether this was their attempt to reassert themself by spending time indulging their need to prove how powerful and mysterious they really were.

Well, far be it for Kimblee to stop them, if Envy wanted to talk, he would certainly listen...

"How old are you?"

Envy shrugged. "Older than any human."

"You're the oldest?"

"Nope, not even nearly. And none of my siblings are anything compare to Father."

Kimblee took a while to digest that, Envy may look like a human teenager, but it seemed that they were as far from that as imaginable.

"How does one… _create_ a homunculus?" he asked, sensing Envy was in a mood for showing off.

"Why, making plans, Crimson," Envy teased with a careless laugh.

"Just curious."

"Hmm, I'm not sure you're ever 'just curious'. But okay, I'll give you a very, _very,_ simplified version. At our core, all we homunculi have is a Philosopher's Stone." Red sparks flickered up around Envy's chest and receded to leave a pulsating stone in their wake. It was different to Kimblee's shard, it was larger, smoother and more vibrant… it was… Envy...

Kimblee fought back a disturbing impulse to reach out to it; focussing instead on the puzzle pieces which had just slotted neatly into his mind to explain Envy's outburst from their last encounter.

"What?" Envy asked, noticing Kimblee's dazed eyes. "What are you looking at?" The sparks flew up again, removing the stone from his view. Envy's pale skin looked flushed and they looked down, letting their hair fall over their face and hiding it from view.

"Sorry," Kimblee replied, shaking his head to snap himself back to reality, and worrying that his fascination had been too intense for his companion.

Envy awkwardly toyed with a strand of hair for a few moments, before meeting Kimblee's eyes, looking as if they were trying a bit too hard to be casual. "Impressive, huh?"

"Impressive…" Kimblee echoed. "But I wonder, is your Stone finite, too?" He knew it was a dangerous question, but his curiosity wouldn't let it rest.

Peering at him, Envy cocked their head to one side. "You're very persistent with this ridiculous idea, you know that, right?"

Kimblee nodded, waiting for their outburst of anger.

"Well, I asked Father about it…" they said quietly, contrary to his expectations. "You were right, the Stones will... fail, once all the souls are... used up."

Fail… that sounded an awful lot like… was Envy telling him that they would die if their Stone was used up? The first time he had brought it up, he was merely curious, and keen to have a plan in place for what to do if his Stone failed during combat… but this, this was far more than Kimblee had expected to be revealed to him; and for once, he was unsure what to do with the knowledge he had been so desperately seeking.

"Anyway," Envy started, a wary edge entering their voice, "you shouldn't worry about it. There're plenty of souls in the Stone's we've made - yours is no exception, it won't give out on you."

XXX

 _Envy stands on the top of a cliff, looking down at an angry sea. It's waves churn and froth, and smash against the base of the cliff. Envy knows, without knowing how, that the sea is blood, and suddenly the red of it seems sharp and bold, it is a rich crimson, similar to their Philosopher's Stone… They look down at their chest and suddenly notice a gaping hole, and their Stone is flying through the air, down and down, until it meets the sea of blood with a hiss. Envy wails in agony at the pain of having their Stone ripped out, and the waves intensify in response to their pain. Soon they are so high that they are crashing up over the cliff edge. Envy tried to move back, but they are unable. They look down and realise they have fallen to their knees, and the burning sensation in their chest intensifies beyond belief. Water from the huge waves hits them from above, knocking their head back and filling their mouth with metallic tasting blood. Envy tries for another scream; Father will come, if he hears. Father needs them. Father cares. But their voice won't come, and the waves are relentless now, beating them down again and again, they can't breath, and they can't get away, and the ache in their chest is unbearable… and slowly everything fades to black. Envy knows they should be scared, but the can't quite bring themself to feel anything more, the numbness is okay, after what they've just experienced…_

XXX

Kimblee wasn't aware of what caused him to wake up. He sat up and stretched out his arms, regarding his unexpected surroundings.

The sun was hanging low on the horizon, it's warm rays just beginning to touch the military encampment outside of Ishval. Where was his tent…? How had he ended up sleeping out here on the sand?

A small whimper brought his attention to the sleeping form of Envy. Had they both fallen asleep out here without realising?

Kimblee sprung to his feet, suddenly awake and alert. If he was caught here, there would be gossip. What reasons would a State Alchemist have to sleep outside of their own tent? It was the sort of question which sparked rumours which could ruin a soldier's reputation, and Kimblee had worked too hard for his position to lose it over something so ridiculous.

As he turned to leave, his attention was suddenly captured by a strangled shriek from Envy. He looked back, noting the homunculus was writhing uncomfortably on the floor and making more cries of distress.

What was going on here? Kimblee didn't have enough experience to work out if this was a commonplace nightmare, or something unique to the homunculi. He stood, frozen as he considered his options on whether to try waking them, or if he should just return to his tent and leave them here.

After a few moments, they seemed to quieten; but then, suddenly, and without warning, Envy bolted upright with a wail and eyes filled with pain and unshed tears.

Kimblee was at their side before he had even realised what was happening. "What happened?" he asked, in a voice much calmer than he felt.

"C-Crimson?" Envy choked out, peering up at Kimblee through big, glistening eyes.

"Yes. Yes. Are you okay?"

Envy looked down at themself and reached a cautious hand over their heart. They took in a deep, shaky breath and angrily blinked back the tears. "I-I'm fine," they said in a tone Kimblee supposed was their attempt at sounding cold and back in control. "Fine," they repeated, more to themself than to Kimblee.

"Do you want…" Kimblee trailed off, realising the error in the phrasing of his question. "Shall I stay?" he asked instead, taking the emphasis off what Envy did, or didn't _want._

Envy drew their knees up against their chest, looking tiny and not at all like the confident and powerful being Kimblee had come to know. He reached out a hand to push back a lock of tangled hair from their face, but Envy avoided it with a deft movement.

"No. You should go," they said, a bit of characteristic fierceness creeping back into their voice.

Kimblee nodded and stood back up. "Okay, I'll see you later."

"Later," Envy replied.

Kimblee took maybe twenty paces before turning back. Curiously, from this distance, it almost looked like Envy's shoulders were shaking, as if they were… _oh._

He turned his back on them. There was quite clearly a lot he still had to learn about his new acquaintance, they were a much more complicated being than he had initially expected. But he had time, he would understand them... one day.

* * *

A/N pt2: I don't really know what the point of this is, it didn't turn out like I expected it to (do they ever?!), but I hope it's okay to read. Hopefully the theme of Envy discovering their own version of mortality came though okay, too :)

Also, sorry I've not posted for a while! Work has been pretty busy so I've been really tired in the evenings and it's been a struggle to write (I'd say 90% of this I wrote today). I have some annual leave this week though (it's my Birthday week, yay), so hopefully I can make another update to EHF soon!

Thank you so much for reading ^^


	6. Respect

_A/N Set just after the war, assuming Kimblee doesn't go to jail, and Envy is asked to keep an eye on him to make sure the Philosopher's Stone is in safe hands._

* * *

Kimblee was humming somewhere in the next room, but Envy was trying their hardest not to listen. It sounded awful, anyway - tuneless and flat, and it made them want to tear their hair out. Why wouldn't he stop making such a racket… what was he even doing in there?

Envy did feel a _little_ bad, just a little. Kimblee probably hadn't deserved quite the words they had launched at him, but he needed to remember that _he_ wasn't the one in charge. Envy was, and always would be. That's just how things were.

Thinking back, now, at the venom laced words as they had deconstructed every aspect of Kimblee which made him inferior to themself, Envy wondered if perhaps they had spoken too harshly. Kimblee was much better than any other human they had met so far, so it wasn't really fair to categorise him the same as the rest.

Maybe they should - no. Envy didn't apologise. He would just have to sulk in the other room until he had accepted the truth about the situation… Envy just hoped that it would be soon, because there really wasn't much else to do here.

Picking up a well read book which had been left out, Envy leafed casually through the first few pages. It was an alchemic chemistry book, which they were sure they'd seen him read hundreds of times before. It detailed, in length, the necessary components and conditions required to produce a myriad of reactions, and on nearly every page, Kimblee's cramped and slanted handwriting filled the margins. These were clearly the scribbles of a much younger man; the Kimblee who Envy knew wouldn't use such careless phrases, not even in his notes. Envy continued to flick through the pages, pausing just long enough to read a few words before moving on, each time concluding that their own, varied education, clearly hadn't had much overlap with Kimblee's.

They slammed the heavy cover of the book shut, hoping that maybe Kimblee would hear and come to see what the noise was, but to no avail. Envy supposed his pride had been dented, it was such an annoyingly _human_ trait. How could such miserable creatures have such silly, delicate egos… as if they could ever have any worth?

Kimblee did have worth, though, in his own way, Envy conceded somewhat grudgingly. He could kill with the clap of his hand, and now, with the Philosopher's Stone he had recently acquired, his range had extended well past the hundreds… that was far more than Envy could manage in such a short space of time.

Envy's shoulders slumped. Had they really just compared themself, so unfavourably, to a human? Of course, they _could_ kill on a larger scale, they reminded themself; it just involved _that thing._ They cringed and slid further down in their chair. They would not - could not, think of themself as that monster. This was their true form now, this was how they _chose_ to present themself. Kimblee didn't even know the thing existed. Good, they hoped it would stay that way…

 _Knock._

Envy jumped out of their leaning-towards-melancholy daze just as Kimblee poked his head around the door. The rest of him appeared soon after, his arms were crossed and his expression was stern.

He regarded Envy in silence for a few moments. "You don't get to treat me like that," he said, finally.

"I-"

"No, please let me finish. It's important you hear this, I think." Kimblee looked down at his hands, what was going on? "It's true that I am human. And it's true that you are inherently stronger than me. But you aren't perfect, either. I don't plan on sticking around if you speak to me like that again." He fixed Envy with a steely glare which would they would have laughed at, if not for the words which preceded it.

Kimblee was putting his foot down, it seemed. That was fine, Envy could respect his determination, but they were unsure whether they should be offended or not. He had said they weren't perfect… well, was anyone? Was it an insult, or a fact?

Envy knew better than they made out, just how far from perfect they were. They were flawed and ugly, possessive and jealous, and a hundred other insecurities they held about themself, which they shoved into the corner of their mind and kept at bay until something caused them to flood out.

"Okay," they said with a careless toss of their head. Better to keep it light. Whenever they opened up, even a little, Kimblee had a way of delving deep into their psyche, and learning information about them that they really didn't like him knowing. He was intuitive that way.

"Okay? That's it?"

"Sure. You don't like me calling you human. Fine. I won't do it anymore."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that, Crimson."

Kimblee frowned but perched on the arm of the sofa next to Envy. "I know that it's not that simple."

Envy gave an exaggerated sigh, what was Kimblee after? They were trying to be agreeable to make up for how rude they had been earlier, but he was really pushing it today. He had done nothing to deserve the forgiveness which Envy had so generously offered, but instead of graciously accepting it, he was accusing them of lying.

"Just drop it. Are you trying to ruin my night on purpose?" Envy felt their tone growing heated as their anger began to creep back out.

"No, I'm trying to make a point. This is important to me." Kimblee's voice was very level in comparison to Envy's; he was clearly trying to have a discussion, not an argument.

Envy stood up, trying to close the height difference between to two of them in an attempt to intimidate him. "You made your point. And for the record, it's _not_ important to me; but I won't do it again, if that's what you'd like."

Kimblee pursed his lips in thought, a gesture which even further served to irritate Envy.

"Fine," he replied, eventually. "Thank you for listening to me."

Envy knew better than to roll their eyes, but really, this human was so arrogant, thinking that he could go around challenging them when they had only been making perfectly justified observations on his character. And worst of all, somehow he had just played them into agreeing not to do it again. He really was insufferable.

Envy flopped back into the chair, lost in thought. He made them feel uncomfortable and unsure of themself; and somehow they always got the feeling that he had won, even if they couldn't quite tell how or what. It hadn't always been like this, there was a time when Kimblee wouldn't have dared to talk back to them...

They were suddenly aware of Kimblee slowly sliding off the arm of the sofa, settling on the cushion besides them. He smelled nice, they noted; like the clean, soft smell of linen, and faintly of freshly ground coffee. It was different to when they were in Ishval, when he smelt of blood and smoke and death, but it was still… nice.

Next to them, Kimblee reached for the old alchemy book Envy had discarded earlier, filling the air with the intermittent crackle of old book pages. They couldn't help but smile a little, especially when his absent-minded humming started up again, in a smooth low key.

He was infuriating, but maybe he wasn't so bad (for a human).

* * *

 _A/N I'll be honest, I have no idea what point I am trying to make with this story (I'll probably think of something as soon as I hit post and it's too late to edit it :') ). I just like writing semi-domestic Kimvy, and mostly I just sit and write and_ something _appears on the page. Although after finishing I notice it has a few parallels with 'Who is she?', which is set a little bit further into their relationship. Anyway, I hope you enjoy :) & thanks for reading! _

_(Also, if anyone reading this is also following my long-fic, massively massively sorry for the slow updates, I've been pretty busy recently, and super tired in the evenings after work, but I am still working on it, and hopefully the next chap will be ready soon!)_


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